Americans developing addictions to prescription drugs!

03Jul

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With more and more Americans developing addictions to prescription drugs, the country is experiencing a surge in violent crimes as fiends are taking drastic measures to fuel their fix. Prescription drug abuse is nothing new in America, but not only is the problem getting worse in the States, but an increasing number of addicts are resorting to violent crimes to avoid withdrawal.

There has been a gradual increase in prescription pain killer admissions for quite a few years now. But it’s still a great concern because it shows that it’s a continuing problem out there. With more and more people developing dependencies, a crime epidemic is overtaking America as addicts attempt to obtain opiates at all costs.

This is far from a global crisis, too. Americans make up around 80 percent of the world’s prescription painkiller users and abusers, reports IMS Health. And now, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, prescription painkillers have surpassed illicit drugs such as heroin and cocaine as the leading cause of fatal overdoses.

It’s not the drugs themselves that are doing all the killing, though.

Last month four people were murdered at a Long Island pharmacy when David Laffer allegedly open fired in a New York drug store after emptying the store of their entire supply of hydrocodone. His wife, Melinda Brady, was later charged in related crimes after she told police that her husband had committed the armed robbery so that she could have the pills. He killed a 17-year-old clerk and a middle-aged pharmacist before shooting a couple in the back of the head and taking hydrocodone-based drugs from the shelves.

A month earlier across the country, an Oakland, California drug store was robbed at gunpoint by two masked men seeking a prescription narcotic cough syrup rich in codeine. If they don’t abuse the tonic themselves, bottles can fetch upwards of $200 a piece on the streets.

It seems almost too obvious to the California Board of Pharmacy. “People want prescription drugs and they see pharmacies as where to get them.”

Sixty Five (65) pharmacies in the state of Florida were held up in 2010. In all the country saw 686 drug store robberies that year, an increase of 80 percent since 2006. While the drug-deal-gone-bad scenario is a stigma which is often associated with the poor and impoverished of inner-city America, RdPatrol, the country’s only database for pharmacy crime, says around 80 percent of the incidents are perpetrated by white males.

“These are very typically addicts who possibly can no longer get controlled substances in the manner they used to get them,” said the director of law enforcement liaison for Purdue Pharma, which makes the narcotic painkiller Oxycontin. “This really is a crime of desperation and that makes for a much more dangerous suspect.”

Many patients are turned into addicts after taking legitimate prescriptions. Eventually, however, it is not uncommon for them to turn to crime if they are laid-off and left without their prescription but with an undying addiction. People with addiction who could be perfectly good people will do all sorts of horrible things to maintain their supply. Many times . . . people can lose jobs and with certain things with health care we see lack of insurance now.” “It seems to me the situation is becoming worse.” Recently a man walked into his store, went behind the counter and held a clerk at knife point, demanding hydrocodone.

These incidents are far from isolated and only getting worse.

As addicts try to snuff their itch and pack their wallets, this trend doesn’t seem to be disappearing. In a Seattle courtroom last year, a 14-time felon talked about how he transitioned from vehicle prowling and a string of misdemeanors into drug store hold-ups: “Robbing pharmacies for OxyContin is the only way to go,” was written in court documents.

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